Doing something right
by Dutchy1992
Summary: Set after Angela and Hodgins break up in season 4. This is my take on how I thought Brennan would comfort Angela. This fic shows Brennan' insecurities and doubt about herself. And who does she need to tell her she's doing something right? You can all probably already guess! Pleas read and revies. Let me know if you like it or not. I really appreciate reviews!- Dutchy


Finally, after a long flight from London we arrive back in DC. The flight had been terrible. A lot of turbulance, annoying children crying and Booth snoring loudly beside me. I'm exhausted and irritated. So when I turn my phone on and I see I have one new massage, I groan. All I want to do is go home and lie in my bathtub for a very, very long time before going to sleep in my own bed. After Booth and I got our luggage we walk towards the exit to hail a cab. While we wait I listen to the voicemail message.

'Hey sweetie, it's me. Hodgins and I broke up and uh... I won't really know why until I speak to you, so I'm just gonna crawl into bed until you get home and then we can...', I hear Angela take a shaky breath before she ends the call. I may not be good with people but even I can hear the tears in her voice. The exhaustion is momentarily forgotten as I start to worry about my best friend.

'Everything okay?' Booth asks when I put my phone away. I shake my head.

'I uh... I need to go to Angela. She and Hodgins broke up', I say sadly. She and Hodgins seemed so happy together. Yet another reason why I think love is temporary.

'You can come back to my place and I'll drive you to her house', he suggests. I smile a little and nod.

Finally a cab stops and we get in. Booth gives the driver his address and we start to drive. Luckily it's late in the evening so traffic isn't bad. Within half an hour we arrive at Booth' place. All the way to his place we haven't spoken a word. Both exhausted, both caught up in our own thoughts. Booth pays the driver before he takes my luggage out of the trunk. Apparently he has the key of his car on him because he immedialy takes the suitcase and drops it in his SUV. Quietly we get in. When he starts the car, his hand finds mine.

'You okay?' He asks worried. I nod slightly and smile a little before I wrap my fingers around his hand.

'Just worried about Angela.'

'You're a good friend, Bones', he gives my hand a little squeeze but doesn't let go. He keeps holding my hand until we arrive at Angela' house.

'Thanks for bringing me', I say and get out of the car. I start to walk to the back of the car to get my suitcase but Booth beats me to it.

'You don't have to...', I start but he raises his hand to stop me.

'No problem, okay. Here', he puts the suitcase on the ground, 'take care of Ang. Call if you need anything.'

'Thank you, Booth', I say again. He really is a wonderful friend. A wonderful man, really. Always caring about everyone.

He doesn't drive away when I walk to her door. Luckily she, too, has a spare key outside of her house. I pick the key up from under a statue by her front door and open the door. I wave at Booth one last time before he drives away and I close the door. As soon as I lock the door, I walk upstairs to her bedroom. Softly I knock on it. When I don't hear an answer I carefully open the door. There she is. Sleeping with tear tracks on her cheeks. Holding a shirt that probably belongs to Hodgins. She looks so sad. So young. Suddenly, panic sets in. How am I supposed to help her? I don't know the first thing about dealing with such sadness. "Okay, Brennan, time to pull yourself together and just be there for her. It doesn't matter what you say or do. Just being here is enough", I try to convince myself. It works a little. I sigh before I sit on the bed next to her.

'Ange?' I whisper as I put my hand on her shoulder. Slowly she start to wake up. When her eyes focus on mine, I can see how red they really are. 'Hey', I whisper and smile at her. I can see the tears returning to her eyes.

'Hey', she whispers back. When she sits up I don't hesitate to wrap my arms around her. Immediatly she starts to cry. Her tears slowly soaking my shirt.

'Shh... Ange, it's okay', I say. She nods agains my shoulder. After a few minutes of crying she pulls back. She moves to the middle of the bed a little, making room for me to sit next to her.

'You really didn't have to come right away', she says apologetically.

'I wanted to, Ange', I assure her.

'It's really over', she whispers. I reach for her hand and hold it between my own.

'What happened?'

'I'm not even sure what happened. One moment we celebrate that Grayson finally agreed to the divorce and the next thing I know we end things. Something to do with trust... I don't know. He said: 'You're the one who's leaving', and then I said: 'You're the one who isn't stopping me.' It all went so quickly', she finishes quietly. Tears still flowing from her eyes.

'I thought you loved each other...', I say confused.

'Of course we did! Do... But, sweetie, sometimes love isn't enough', she says. Immediatly I feel awful. Of course they love each other.

'Sorry, Ange. I'm not good at this...', I look down emberrassed.

'It's okay. You being here is enough, really. I don't expect you to suddenly be a shrink', she says smiling. I smile back at her. Relieves she's not mad for me being bad at this. I wrap my arm around her and pull her close. I hear her breathing start to calm as I rub slow circles on her back. It's something Booth always does for me when I'm upset. The gesture seems to work on Angela aswell.

'You need anything?' I ask her.

'Not really. Just sleep. Maybe after a good night sleep I can figure out how we got here' she says as she sits up.

'I can stay, if you want', I propose carefully. Not knowing if it's the right thing.

'Would you mind? I really don't want to be alone.'

'Not a problem. My suitcase is downstairs so I have some clothes with me. Do you mind if I take a shower though? I feel kind of dirty', Ange starts to laugh.

'Of course you can shower, sweetie. You don't even have to ask. There are towels in the cabinet below the sink and shampoo and soap is already in the shower. I'm going to try to sleep, though.'

'Okay, I'll be right back. Try to rest, Ange', I say as I give her a hug again. She nods and lets go. After she lays down, I walk downstairs to grab my pyjama's and some underwair. Everything smells like the suitcase but at least it's clean. When I get back to the bedroom, Ange is already back to sleep. As quietly as possible I walk towards the bathroom. When the door closes I lean against it for a moment. Poor Angela. Poor Hodgins. I really thought they we're going to get married. Again I sigh. When I take of my jeans, my cell falls to the floor. I pick it up and look if I missed a call. There's a text massage. Of course... it's from Booth.

'Just wanted to see if Ange was okay. And if you were. Call if you need anything. Booth.'

I smile. Apparently he knows me too well. He knows how hard this is on me aswell. For a moment I hesitate but than decide to call him instead of answering his text.

'Hey Bones', he says after two rings.

'Hi', I answer with a smile.

'So, how is she?'

'I believe you would say heartbroken. Definenetly sad', I say softly.

'And you? How are you holding up?'

'I feel as if I'm doing everything wrong. I have no idea how to deal with this! She keeps saying that me being there is enough but I feel like a horrible friend. I even implied that she and Hodgins didn't love each other...', I ramble.

'You're not a terrible friend, okay. And it's true. You being there shows what a good friend you are and right now it's all Angela is going to need. Just somebody to talk to. Somebody who will listen', he explains carefully. Suddenly I understand. It doesn't matter what I say. I matters that I listen. Why does he make everything sound so simple?

'Thanks, Booth', I sigh, 'I get it now.' For a while we don't talk. Just listening to each others breathing.

'Booth?' I ask.

'Yeah, Bones?'

'Why am I hurting? Nothing happened to me but I still find myself feeling sad and hurt. I don't understand.'

'Because Angela is your best friend and you care about her a lot. What you're feeling right now is compassion. Empathy. You feel for her.'

'I don't know what that means. I can't feel what she's feeling. That's impossible. There has to be another reason why I feel like this. Maybe because Ian is dead...'

'Bones!', he interrupts me, 'it's not because Ian is dead, okay. You feel sad because Angela is sad. You're hurting because she's hurting. You love her and therefor you feel sad. It's seeing her being sad that makes you sad and hurt aswell. Don't overthink it, okay. Believe me when I say that you feel like this because you care.' I think about his words for a minute. Fact: I care about Angela. She's like a sister to me. So maybe he's right. Maybe I feel sad for her.

'I understand, I think', I say after a few minutes.

'Just take care of her. Listen to her when she want to talk. Hold her when she cries. That's all anybody really needs when they're sad. Isn't that what you want when you're upset?'

'Yes, I suppose it is.' Slowly his words sink in and I start to understand what he's trying to say.

'Nothing you say or do will make the pain go away, Bones. But you showing her that you're there for her makes it a little bit better. The rest gets better with time.'

'Okay. Thank you', I say with a smile. He really knows how to make me feel better. 'I should take a shower now. After our flight I feel awful.'

'Get some sleep, okay? Goodnight, Bones.'

'Goodnight, Booth', I whisper and wait a few seconds before I end the call. My conversation with him really made me feel better. Quickly I shed all of my clothes and get in the shower.

It only takes me minutes to finish my shower. I get into my pyjama's and brush my hair. Not bothering to blow dry it. No matter what, it will look awful in the morning anyway. After brushing my teeth with one of Angela' new, spare tootbrushes I get out of the bedroom. Knowing she'll wake up a few time during the night I get in bed beside her. The movement in the matress is enough to wake her again.

'Go back to sleep, Ange', I sooth her softly.

'I was dreaming anyway. Glad you woke me up', she smile a sad smile. Somehow I know her dream was about something pleasant and the dream involved Hodgins.

'Does it make sense when I see that I feel sad for you? I never quite understood it but I feel sad and hurt. Nothing bad happened to me so I can only concluded I feel this way because you feel this way', I tell her softly. We're both on our sides facing each other. While I'm telling her this, I see a smile forming on her lips.

'Yeah, sweetie. You feel like that because I feel like that, too. It just means you care.' I smile at her and nod. 'Let me guess... you called Booth when you were in the bathroom because you were confused?' She raises her eyebrows in a very Angela like manner.

'Yes, I did. I needed some reasurance. I didn't understand what was going on in my head', I explain a little emberrassed. Somehow I always need Booth to say how I feel or what I'm thinking. Nobody can put into words except him.

'It's okay, Bren. Really. It's good you're reaching out to people to help you understand things. I knew when I called you you'd come. But I also knew there would be a moment when you would panic a bit. There's nothing to be ashamed about. I'm just glad you're here.'

Her words make me feel a lot better. For the first time in a very long time I don't think but simply hold her hand because it feels right.

'Thank you, Ange. Now let's get some rest. I'm exhausted and you are too, probably', I say softly.

'Yeah, I am.'

'And Ange?' She hums in response, 'I'm really sorry about you and Hodgins.'

'So am I. Thanks for being here', she says and she drifts off to sleep. For a few more minutes I watch her sleep. When I'm sure she's not going to wake up again, I close my eyes. My chest feels a whole lot lighter than when I got here. Maybe I did the right thing after all.


End file.
